


Justice for Joker

by worderfall



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akechi Goro Rank 8 Spoilers, Akechi Goro Redemption, I Ship It, M/M, Persona 5 References, Persona 5 Spoilers, Persona 5: The Royal, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, Romantic Fluff, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, akeshu - Freeform, pre-interrogation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26297578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worderfall/pseuds/worderfall
Summary: All along, Akechi was all that Joker needed, but not in the way that anybody could expect...ultimate shipping ahoy!
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro & Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro & Persona 5 Protagonist, Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Shuake - Relationship
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	Justice for Joker

**Author's Note:**

> Pwease don't hurt meeee, OwO *hides behind my keyboard*

Akira nonchalantly strode into the Central Square, meandering past hurried commuters and adamant elbows. The late-year air drew moisture from his breaths, which joined those of the hundreds of other commuters' in wafting over the crowd as a low fog. As he huddled alongside the entrance to the underground to break cutting gusts, he pulled out his phone to ensure he was in the correct place and on-time for the rendezvous.

As the screen blinked to life through Akira's thin gloves, he briefly scrolled through his messages to tap on the conversation marked by a white-tinted contact photo. Smiling slyly to himself, the thief confirmed Goro's instructions:

"We have something important to talk about. Central Square, after school. Come alone. I'll be waiting for you."

Akira slipped his phone back into his heavy coat and let out a blissful sigh. He leaned stylishly up against the bustling train station with the sole of one shoe propped up against the wall and hands tucked into his pockets. Nonchalantly, he took a moment to tilt his gaze upward, appreciating the oddly cloudless November sky, sunlight glinting off the parts of his glasses not obscured by his mop of raven hair. Morgana had insisted on coming, but he managed to hold him off; this was nothing he couldn't handle. Besides, he knew the cat would be much more content lounging upstairs in Leblanc than out on the frigid city streets, anyways. After a few moments, however, a throat clearing brought Akira's attention back to earth.

"Reliable as always," Goro quipped with a passive smile. Despite the hints of winter in the wind, he was dressed as he almost always appeared in public: a white dress shirt, tan suit jacket, striped black tie, and black, leather gloves gripping his signature detective's briefcase. Seeing that he had Akira's attention, he gestured towards the more sheltered backstreets, "First and foremost, let's get out of this cold. I know a fantastic pancake place not far from here. You must go if you haven't."

"Can't wait," Akira nodded with a subtle eagerness. He straightened and followed his counterpart down an almost indiscernible route of turning alleyways before coming upon a hole-in-the-wall shop not unlike Leblanc. Really, the sweet smell of caramelizing sugar and sifting flour drifting from the storefront alerted him to their destination more than anything; its welcoming warmth was a sharp contrast to Tokyo's bitter autumn afternoon.

Once the pair was seated at a round, cozy table with their orders placed, Akira allowed himself to entertain Akechi's desire for small-talk without bringing up the urgency which he requested this meeting with. As always, they discussed the media, along with the upcoming election, and even the year's flu season. It wasn't until their waitress delivered cups of steaming coffee and two sticky stacks of pancakes topped with fruit and whipped cream that the Detective Prince's focus shifted.

After he dexterously sank his fork through the edge of his meal and delivered it to his mouth without a single crumb spilled, Akechi lifted his head to look directly into Akira's calm, grey eyes. He pondered unabashedly, "What is it about you that keeps you from avoiding me? Last time we met, I professed my hatred of you. I spat venom and flung my glove at your face. Yet, you still allowed me to join you and your group in infiltrating a palace to steal Nijima-san's heart. You're no idiot, but you might as well be. So, tell me: why lead me on?"

As Akechi's voice rose in quiet intensity, Akira paused his eating to ponder what what he was hearing. He needed to choose his words carefully, with what a precarious point their operation was at. All they needed to do was send the calling card, finish stealing Sae's heart, and the Phantom Thieves would be spared arrest and ruin. But Goro's unrelenting stare meant his thoughts could stall no longer. With a measured coolness, Akira stated, "We need you, and you need us. Or...I need you, and you need me."

"Huh," Akechi's head tilted quizzically, once again impressed with his rival's-his equal's-insight. Almost unconsciously reaching his hand across the tiny tabletop so that it nearly touched Akira's resting fingertips, Akechi pressed further, "Even after what I said? Because I don't hate you, you know. I think you know that."

Suddenly, Akira saw Goro become flustered, maybe for the first time. Resting against the back of his chair and crossing his arm's, the long wisps of the latter's chestnut bangs fell unnoticed into his face. Akechi then continued, muttering almost more to himself than to Akira, "I don't hate you at all. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I-I love you, Akira Kurusu."

Though the rest of the buzzing restaurant remained oblivious, the weight of the phrase dripped between the trickster and the traitor like molasses. The tension could be cut with a dagger, or a laser saber. That is, until Joker grinned mischievously:

"That's too bad."

_____

"I-I beg your pardon?" Akechi recoiled, trying to salvage any semblance of upper-handedness, "You can't tell me you don't feel it, too. This awful, despicable world has bound us together as if we are two sides of the same spirit, whether you like it or not."

"I know what I say, Goro-kun. You're not a teammate. You never will be," Akira triumphantly took his turn at crossing his arms, savoring his rebellion, "Because the Phantom Thieves aren't killers."

Akechi's complexion grappled between going pale with alarm and red with rage. He had been so careful, so calculated. This entire time, he had felt sure that he was stringing along this troubled teen and his misfit friends as if they were bees to honey. Medjed's challenge, the assassination of Okumura, the blackmail to secure his feigned alliance were all building to the ultimate betrayal. His only mistake was thinking that the betrayal would stem from himself, not his rival.

Clenching a fist and leaning forward, Akechi spat back, "How could you know what I've done, what I will do, or what I'm capable of?! You're just a delinquent, a piece of trash! I have given everything to be where I am! How are you keeping up with me?! How are you ahead of me! I want to know. I need to know. I need what you have under your mask, I need you, Kurusu. And I will get it. Losing is not in the cards for me. i will find the truth!"

"I promise it is," Akira hissed quietly, his confidence only bolstered by Goro's break of composure. He pushed up from his seat and turned his back to the shattered visage before him, but not before flicking a handful of yen onto his table setting. Not only did the Phantom Thieves not kill, but they weren't so callous as to stick another with the check, either.

"Maybe I am delinquent trash. But that beats being detective that can't solve what love is," Joker continued with a soft sneer, barely glancing in the Detective Prince's direction, "Like we agreed, we're sending the calling card on the 18th. Be there."

With that, Akira left Akechi to fume and briskly walked back to catch the next train home. Morgana surely would scold him for revealing some of their hand, but the prodigy's shaken confidence would be plenty of a shield to hide their true plan. Even with the high-stakes, winner-takes-all battle looming, one thing remained concrete and centered in Akira's mind: no misguided profession of love could ever amount to the chance to win back his future.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is all in good humor, and I do not think that anybody who does ship the P5 protagonist with Akechi is a bad person. Even Atlus teases this pairing, after all. I just feel like way too many people forget that Akechi is a mass murderer, and regardless of what Shido put him through alongside Akira, that can't fly. Plus, that little thing where he tries to kill Akira, too. I was pleasantly surprised that The Royal didn't go out of his way to redeem him beyond sacrificing himself to rectify reality, and I think that was the most organic conclusion for his controversial character. Basically, Akira can do better (especially if you maxed his social stats), and you can, too.


End file.
